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Great Britain

Explorer · ages 7 and underAdapted from Wikipedia
A satellite view of Ireland and the United Kingdom during a record-breaking heat wave in May 2012, taken by NASA's Terra satellite. The green islands look bright under clear, sunny skies.

What Is Great Britain?

Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, off the north-west coast of continental Europe. It is the biggest island in the British Isles. It is also the biggest island in Europe, and the ninth-largest island in the world.

Ireland is to the west of Great Britain. Together with over 1,000 smaller islands, they make up the British Isles archipelago.

A Land Bridge Long Ago

Long ago, Great Britain was joined to the mainland of Europe by a land bridge called Doggerland. That land bridge disappeared about 9,000 years ago. People have lived on the island for around 30,000 years.

The Countries and Cities

The name Great Britain can mean England, Scotland, and Wales together. These countries, with Northern Ireland, make up the United Kingdom.

London is the capital of England and the whole United Kingdom. Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland. Cardiff is the capital of Wales.

In 2011, about 61 million people lived on the island. This made it the world's third-most-populous island. Only Honshu in Japan and Java in Indonesia have more people. It was also the most populated island outside of Asia.

Quiz time!

3 questions about Great Britain

Question 1 of 3

Which city is the capital of the whole United Kingdom?

Pictures

Heather (Calluna vulgaris) growing wild in the Highlands of Scotland.
A statue of Pythéas, the ancient Greek explorer, by sculptor Auguste Ottin, placed on the front of the Palais de la Bourse in Marseille, France.
A 15th-century map from Ptolemy's Geography showing the British Isles and the North Sea, drawn long before modern maps existed.
An early printed map of the British Isles from Ptolemy's Geographia, one of the first woodcut maps of this region, made in Ulm in the 1480s.
A European robin perched at Leighton Moss, a nature reserve in Lancashire, England, photographed in January 2009.
A welcome sign for South Ayrshire, a region in south-west Scotland, near the village of Colmonell.
The west front, nave, and central tower of Canterbury Cathedral, photographed from the south.
Glasgow Cathedral, a historic church in Scotland that was built in the 13th century, with its tower added in the 15th century.
The White Cliffs of Dover in England, seen across the English Channel from Cap Gris-Nez in France. The cliffs are about 34 km away.

Keep exploring

London
Island
Atlantic Ocean
Continental Europe
Ireland
England

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Great Britain, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Images from Wikimedia Commons. Tap any image to view credits and license.